It's testament to the skill of SGG to make me thoroughly enjoy a game with a genre that I don't like (sports and VN) and a theme I don't normally like (high fantasy). Even these things are implemented well (thanks to the option to muddle through with running backs and the tooltip explanations of fantasy words which every story would benefit from), character work is great, and yes the music & art by Darren & Jen is fantastic as always.

One thing I admire is the intent to not make winning the ultimate goal, but just playing. I don't know how well this works for everyone though. I personally couldn't separate myself from the winning mindset - I didn't savescum or was ever really able to "decide" to win anyway - which was done more successfully in Hades, though it had the massive advantage of being a roguelite. Maybe it takes more games that don't focus on winning before my mindset adapts. The Occupation, regardless of how cool it is, has a good chance of not 'winning' built into it, but that ending doesn't really make you feel good.

This ending is good, though. The characters really grew on me, and it showed in the end. Such a good journey. I should play it again, who knows if it'll happen.